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Monday, March 31, 2008

My friends were selling an item to a couple who didn't speak English very well, so I was doing a little bit of translating. The battery in the item was dead so initially there was no way to test it properly and the buyers, naturally, seemed a little uncertain about it. As my friend went downstairs to buy a new battery, I turned to the couple and said to them in Spanish:

"It'll work. They're good people."

The husband then replied (in Spanish):

"Oh I know. Even though I'm Latino, I trust white people in business deals more than Latinos or other races. I trust whites more than my own people."

I smiled, then glanced at my friends who had no idea what he'd just said, and couldn't wait to tell them -once the couple had left! But I didn't have to wait that long because seconds later, the wife piped up loud and clear in English:

"I clean houses and I like working for the Jews. I never feel any prejudice from them. They just tell me what to do and then leave me alone. They don't watch or keep an eye on me while I'm doing my work."

Sunday, March 30, 2008

My neighbors are moving. I've been helping them sell stuff. What this means is that I have memorized the entire contents of their home, continuously re-arranged said contents numerous times into different locations and groupings that I think will help them sell, and brought various people over to their home (or grabbed them in the hall) and said "Buy stuff!" Sometimes I've even done this when they're not home. Yes I had permission! The day after their first "official" sale, several people knocked on my door to ask questions about items that remained. So I called my neighbors and said "I do have the spare keys to your apartment. Would you like me to show people in when you're not around?" They said "Sure!" and the next night I said "Here's $69 from today!" :) They smiled a lot.

They're selling everything. And I do mean everything. They're moving to Scotland and they're not going to ship all their stuff overseas. It's just not feasible. Nor are they going to pay to store it here since they won't be living here. So it's all going. Large furniture and every little tiny item. Picture frames, every kitchen item, games, books, linens... you name it. All being sold or given away.

When they first told me they were selling everything it took me aback. Their home has so many items that reflect their interests, hobbies and travels. Things I know they love. They told me that they do love those things and that they were a great part of their very happy life here. And now, they will find new homes for those things to make other people happy, and they'll go on to their own new life and get new things for that. I admire them. In theory, I think this makes perfect sense. In practice, I wish I could let go of material things that easily. I get pretty attached to "things."

Many people who have been through their apartment have expressed sadness at seeing everything that's for sale -even though they don't know my neighbors and even though they understand the reason that everything must go. You can't help looking at all the great stuff they have and not be touched by the life that's being "dispersed." But my neighbors are pretty much ok with it. I know there's been a little bit of nostalgic sadness at parting with some of their items, but mostly, because of their great attitude, I think it's been immensely freeing. -Plus, they admit, the money they're getting helps! So does where they're going.

Most people I know move out of necessity; Larger place, lower rent, lease is up, job transfer... My friends are moving by choice and are moving towards something, not away. They're fulfilling an incredible dream. It's so beautiful there, and they're going to have such a wonderful happy new life. I am so envious of and inspired by them.

They're not leaving 100% just yet. On Monday they'll be moving into a temporary sublet for a few months, and then they'll move to Scotland this summer. So they'll still "kind of " be around for a while longer. But by tomorrow, with the exception of about 30 small boxes of clothes, important papers, and some day to day items that they'll need for the next few months at their sublet, all remaining items will be gone. Except for their most prized possession of course. Each of them is still keeping and bringing the one item that's most important to them. The thing that inspires and brings them daily happiness and joy. -Each other.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

I know what some of you are thinking... You're thinking "What's the difference between some of these? They look exactly the same!" The ones on the right side have a thin border. The ones the left do not. (And the very first one is a tiny bit lighter than the two next to it.) For some of these I couldn't decide which looked better, so I gave up trying to figure it out. YOU pick! :)

You're not required to link back to here if you use one of my badges, but if you do use one, please leave a comment and say hi! :)

Friday, March 28, 2008

NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) is officially in November. During NaBloPoMo insane bloggers take up the challenge to post every single day for an entire month. Recently, NaBloPoMo has become a year-round challenge. That's not to say that the challenge is to post for 365 days (though there are other groups for that.) The challenge is still to post daily for a month, but now you can do it for the month(s) of your choice! To motivate people, NaBloPoMo is creating themes for each month. April's theme is "Letters."

"This is not the same as Blog365 (http://blog365.ning.com). Those nuts are blogging every day FOR A YEAR.

No, the new monthly NaBloPoMo is just meant for people who want to try setting the habit of blogging by doing it thirty (etc.) days in a row starting any time of the year."

"...the daily blogging theme for April is going to be LETTERS.

For writers, this can mean letters to the editor, love letters, fan letters, ransom notes -- I'm not encouraging illegal activity, but the list is endless.

For typography lovers, it's a month full of fonts!

For photographers, it's license to go out and shoot things both manmade and natural that resemble a member of our beloved alphabet.

If you can think of more ways to apply this theme, feel free to start a new topic in the forums!"

Initially I thought there was no way I could come up with 30 days worth of posts related to letters, but then I started thinking about the box of letters I have in my closet; some dating back to childhood. And then there's email. Email counts as letters! Between those two sources I should be able to come up with 30 days worth of letter posts.

Unlike "regular" NaBloPoMo, I'm a bit uncertain about whether or not I'll be able to do all 30 days of this one. I'm not sure how comfortable I'll be reading through all those old letters. It might put me into memory overload! BUT... I'm going to give it a try! If I can find the right balance and not get too overwhelmed by memories I think this could be neat! Let's see how long I last :) Wish me luck and stay tuned for a letter a day for the entire month of April -or until my brain goes phfzzzzt!

* If this sounds like fun and you'd like to try it too, you might want to get your head examined head over to NaBloPoMo's website!

The living room was always one of my least favorite rooms, (The dining room usually came in second.) partially because I was never crazy about this living room furniture. It was too boxy for my taste and I wasn't a huge fan of the flower print. I got it as a gift when I was very young, and since I had it, I never bought another set and made use of it for many years. Adding the pillows helped a bit. They were handmade and bought at a Guild Show. It looks like I also had a newspaper, magazine, or possibly a coloring book on the couch on the left. I was always trying to add items to the furniture to make it seem a little less "stiff." (It's all about accessorizing folks! ;) )

While we're talking about things I wasn't crazy about in this room, I'm pretty sure I made those curtains. I think it was my first "curtain making attempt" ever (and it shows!)

In the very left of this picture you can just barely make out the staircase leading to the second floor. To the right of the front door is a small shelf with a basket, and above it is a pendant that had some kind of artwork etched into half a nut (a gift) and some kind of picture above that.

Along the back wall is a rocking chair that I believe was one of the first miniatures I owned. It was very nicely made and I think I got it at the same time I got the brass bed and full length mirror in The Parent's Room. Next to it is a round table that came with a wooden candle (not pictured.) I bought that during a High School trip to the House of Seven Gables in Salem MA. I don't remember where the blue and white bowl on top of it came from. I think it was from a table selling miniatures at a craft/street fair. Behind it is a fake floor plant my mother bought me years ago. I had a hard time finding room for it but my mother loved it and said I HAD to have it!

I had two upright pianos. I think this one was also a music box. I wish you could see the castle sculpture better. It was very cool. I got it at a street fair. Most of the rest of the items along the back wall are labeled if you roll your mouse over them.

The gramophone was one of many metal Asian miniatures that were on the market at that time. Most weren't anywhere near scale, but this one was close, so I used it. The picture above it is of a cat. I cut it out of a catalogue.

The fireplace along the right wall was definitely one of my first items. Very common back then. Practically impossible to find now. It was a very simple fireplace which I liked more and more as I got older. Most other fireplaces I saw were too large or ornate for my tastes. The candles on top of the fireplace are real. There's a fake potted plant on top of the fireplace, and I think there's a sea shell to the right of it. I loved the miniature painting over the fireplace. It was real.

The area rug in the center is one I agonized over for a while! I was in search of the "perfect rug" (at a price I could afford) and it took me a while to get that one. Nowadays they're much easier to find and a lot less expensive. On the coffee table is a Scrabble board with some tiles in the center. The Scrabble box is to the left.

To the left of the center couch, on the floor and barely visible, is a brown dog. He was plastic with brown fuzz. It was the very first pet I had for my house. I got a dog bowl to go with him with the name "Spot" written on the side in red (it's in the kitchen). The dog was solid brown, so when I got him home I colored a dark brown spot in his back, made him a blue collar out of fabric, and then I was happy. :)

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Yes of course this house had more than one bathroom! Have you not been keeping count? There were FIVE people living in this house! (Six if you count the infant in the Parents' Room!) This was the upstairs bathroom. It was between the Boy's Room and the Girl's Room on the top floor of the house.

This bathroom had my sister's original bathroom set. It was oversized and not quite to scale, but it too had a "normal" toilet and hey, when you need a second bathroom, you can't be too picky!

The Kleenex box was made by the neighbor up the street. The red powder puff container may have been a plastic wheel from an old toy. We had a large red powder puff in our guest bathroom when I was young so "in my world" this was a perfectly normal thing to have in a bathroom!

The black wire rack in this room was another cake rack. Smaller than the one in the kitchen and another of my sister's pieces that I "rescued."

The mirror over the sink was also from my sister's house. It was from one of my mom's old makeup cases and was painted white (can you tell? ;) ). It looks like it was painted with Wite Out. It may have been!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I wish this picture were larger. It's hard to see a lot of the details.

The small nightstand, brass bed (with pillows), the full length mirror, and the dresser along the right wall, were among my earliest pieces. I got them as Christmas and Birthday presents very early on. I think the bed and its pillows (and a different blanket that came with it) were from E.

On the nightstand next to the bed is a box of tissues that you can't see well but it looked like a real box of tissues, complete with tissue sticking out the top. I don't remember where I got the hat on the wall above the bed. I think I added the trim to it myself (copying something I'd seen elsewhere.)

The quilt on the bed was a real quilt made by me. Probably hand-stitched and crooked again, but the colors were great. The slippers on the floor were also made by me out of remnant dollhouse carpet pieces. I sewed a few beads and painted "leaves" on one set in an attempt to make it look more "girly" with floral accents. I wanted to distinguish the mother's slippers from the father's. I don't think I had any pink carpet remnants or I would have used those for hers. -Or maybe I thought they'd blend in too much with the actual carpet (since they'd be made from the same material.)

There are two ferrets on the bed that can barely be seen. I got them separately. When I saw miniature ferrets, I had to have them. I think I may have painted the gray and white one on the left. The one on the right was already painted brown.

The back of this room had a small alcove. I still had more kid and baby furniture I wanted to use so I turned that into a nursery area. I decided a newborn could live in the parents' room for a while, but I remember thinking that after a year or so it'd need a room of its own. I was trying to figure out how I'd work that out (doubling up on other kids' rooms etc.) when it occurred to me that this infant was not actually going to age! It wasn't ever going to get any bigger. I could leave that room exactly how it was forever! I loved the changing table and the shelves above it. I always wanted to buy the matching set of furniture to that but I knew I wouldn't have room for the other pieces.

Along the right wall is a trunk that goes with the chest of drawers in the Toddler's Room and the bench in the Girl's Room. Both dressers in this room had items in the drawers. The one on the left (behind the bed) had a folded men's shirt, and the one on the right had a skirt and two necklaces.

The jewelry box on the dresser on the right was great! I got that as a birthday gift as an adult from a friend who said "take me to the dollhouse store with you so I don't buy you something that doesn't fit with your dollhouse that you'll tell an embarrassing story about later!" ;) The jewelry box was metal with lace and ribbons on the outside, and when you opened it there was a mirror inside and small pieces of fake jewelry. It was within the budget my friend gave me so I said "THAT please!" :)

To the left of the jewelry box is a small vase with red flowers. (In reality it was small dried flowers inserted into a tall clear bead.) The clock in the glass case was part of the "set of 6 or so clocks" that I'd received as a gift. The pink blur on the far left corner of the dresser is a bouquet of paper flowers. A surprise from the father to the mother. Sometimes I placed the flowers on the bed.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This type of room was a common one in my houses. It was my equivalent to the "Under Construction" sign you often see on unfinished websites. -And this was before I was even on the web!

Any time I had a room that was far from finished, usually a hallway, I'd put out a can of paint and some tools in it so it would look like the room was under construction by "the people who lived in the house." Then it didn't look as unfinished and it "fit" better! (It wasn't me who hadn't finished that room yet! Talk to them!) In this case the door (which leads to the Toddler's Room) was missing a door knob (as were several other doors in the house!), a wall perpendicular to the door wasn't up yet, and the walls and door still needed some paint.

Another common room to see in my houses was some kind of attic or "catch-all" storage room. I usually used those to store seasonal items (like holiday items or fake food, or items I was going to use but hadn't yet.) Unfortunately I don't think I have a picture of the "catch-all" room for this house, but there was one. I always tried to make those rooms look as much like a real storage room or attic as possible, complete with boxes and a few representative "attic type" items.

As for this room...

I loved this bench. I'm not sure why, but I loved holding it. Maybe because it was so well made. It was small and scaled for a child, and there was storage space under the seat cushion where I'd often keep tools when they "weren't in use." The yardstick on the bench may have been someone's "business card." One of my yardsticks was. In tiny letters, at the top, it had the name, address, and phone number of a craftsman who specialized in miniature tools and equipment. He was giving out his business cards yardsticks at his booth at a show in Connecticut. I bought the Georgia O'Keeffe print at that same show. I remember flipping through a book with clear plastic pockets, each containing a different miniature painting or print. I loved this one.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Moments later I hear a series of knocks emanating from about halfway up my door. I look through the peephole to see.... no one. I open the door to see... no one. I look to my left to see... -Small blonde child pressed up flat against the wall. Blue eyes, bright red cheeks, huge grin. I hand him the cake and tell him it's unfair how cute he is and that I predict he will only get cuter as he ages. He takes the two plastic containers and stomps up the stairs chanting "Food! Food! Food!" as he ascends.

Good morning. I'm sick :P I hope this doesn't flare up to the level of the person I caught it from and that it turns out to be a quick 24/48 hour thing. Particularly because after I got home last night, a friend and I who have been trying to get together for several months finally made plans for later this week. I was FINE when we spoke last night. I'm going to hate having to call him if I'm not better and say "Guess what? Gotta cancel!"

I know who I caught this from and I was thinking of sending her an email this morning that said "You make me SICK!" but she's probably feeling pretty horrible already so I will refrain! ;) L was at Easter dinner yesterday and has been sick for a couple of weeks. So much so that, due to congestion, she can't hear out of one ear (We had some fun with that!) She was starting to feel better so she came to the party. -Which is great because she's a riot! I normally have a very strong immune system -I could be in a room with the plague and not catch it- but I think I caught this yesterday when I kissed her. -She kissed me first! Actually it started with a very cute new couple. We were all at the table and he got up to go to the other room for a moment and on his way gave his girlfriend a quick kiss as he passed her. The guy sitting next to her said "Hey, what about me?" so he leaned down and kissed the guy. L then leaned over and gave me a quick kiss, I turned around and kissed her back, the guys across the table kissed each other, and pretty much everybody at the table kissed the people on either side of them. -I think that's when the germs jumped ship! ;)

Yesterday was fun. Amazing company and food as always. If I wrote about everything it would be way too long. E is such an incredible cook and he and P are such wonderful hosts. Every time I leave I'm so full, I never ask to bring leftovers home, but then the next day (like right now!) I WISH I HAD! I made dessert and it turned out great (Carrot cake.) It's another friend's recipe so she really deserves the credit. Before I left I asked if anybody wanted to take some home with them and several people chimed in. I gave the remainder of the finished cake to my neighbors as soon as I got home, but there's still MORE in my kitchen because there's a whole other layer I didn't even take with me. (Made the cake with 2 layers. Looked too small. Made 2 more layers. One more layer on the cake was perfect. The second stayed home and I still have it!)

There were several new people this year I'd never met. P had told his choir at the last minute that if anyone didn't have someplace to go for Easter they should come over. I hugged him and told him I loved that he did that. Everybody was fun and funny... E &P have great friends. Three people gave me their contact info, and I gave a couple of people my contact info, written on small plastic eggs that I grabbed off the centerpiece. It's not easy to write on those things! We finished the evening with the traditional watching of The Vicar Of Dibley Easter Special, and then all went on our ways. I shared a cab with someone who I discovered lives one block away from me and who has lived here for 3 years! One block! We even use the same laundromat. Both of us agree that we have never ever seen each other before, not even in passing. -That's NY for you.

I'll end with a funny story from the friend I'm hoping to not cancel my plans with later this week: K was at his friend's house yesterday for Easter. They decided to make an Easter Egg hunt for his friend's kids, so both of them filled plastic eggs and hid them all over the back yard in advance. About a half hour later (before the kids had even arrived), his friend laughed and told him to look out the window at the squirrels. It turns out the squirrels were finding all their eggs, breaking them open, and stealing the candy. -Smart squirrels. I wish they'd caught that on video!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

I'm really thankful that I'll be spending Easter with my friends today. I am grateful and honored to be invited each year. Honored may sound like an odd word to describe it, but I am. I'm very lucky.

When I write about the holidays here, I feel a bit odd. I know there may be people reading here who are going to have a terrible time today. -On any holiday. I want to say "Happy [insert appropriate holiday here!]" to them (to you!) because it's possible that nobody else will. I also don't want to cause anyone to feel worse by talking about what a great day I had or am about to have when they might be sitting home alone, or have to work, or be going through anything else that makes the fun time others are having at the holidays seem like an unusually cruel reminder to them of "what kind of day they're not having."

Oversensitive of me? Maybe. But I was in that position for many years. And although I've been blessed with great holidays for over 10 years now, I never forget. And I'm never unaware of how immensely lucky I am to have really wonderful holidays now (Even the little ones... and even those I spend alone.)

So...

To everyone who is going to have a fun time today: I'm sorry if this brought you down! Lol!

To everyone who will have a "tense" holiday today: Find the humor and make fun of it often (and blog about it so I can read!)

To everyone who is spending the day alone and is ok with that: I hope you have a restful, peaceful, productive day.

To everyone who is sad today, you are in my thoughts. Honestly. Tomorrow will be easier.

Don't get me wrong. My father likes me well enough, but he is never really excited to speak to me unless there is something he needs. He's also never been big on compliments so when he ended the call with "You are the best!" I was shocked and asked "Can I get that in writing?" He said he'd send it to me in email. Much to my surprise (because I really was not expecting it), this showed up in my "in box" a short time later:

YOU AE THE BEST!!!

*Sigh.* There's something oddly tragic about that. I wrote him back:"Thanks Dad. You ae the best too. :)"

Friday, March 21, 2008

When I was very young (between 1 and 5), there was an elderly couple that lived diagonally across the street from us. I wish I could remember their names. I'm usually very good with that (-Oh! I DO remember! The Knoxes. "Mr. and Mrs. Knox" -Told ya I was good!) We didn't see them much except for the occasional wave and friendly smile, but around Easter time, Mr. Knox always brought my friend and I "Easter Bunny hats." -A band of card stock with two paper bunny ears stapled to them. My friend and I loved our bunny hats and looked forward to them every year. We were always so excited! We would wear our hats constantly and pretend we were bunnies, until eventually one of the ears would fall off. Then we'd pretend we were Indians.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My friend just told me "It's 10PM" and naturally the next thing that popped into my head was "Do you know where your children are?" Then I started thinking... I haven't seen those public service announcements in years. Then I also started thinking about how creepy those darned things were! -And what a weird thing that was to put on TV every night. The intent is commendable, but it's still a bit odd if you think about it.

Do you know where your children are? is a popular question used as a public service announcement for parents on American television throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, usually at 10:00PM or 11:00PM, depending on the market and/or the time of the local youth curfew. The phrase originated from Buffalo, New York's long time ABC affiliate WKBW, and was possibly inspired by the Scottish bedtime story, Wee Willie Winkie.

Besides being used on WKBW, the question became the long-running slogan of New York City TV station (and eventual Fox affiliate), WNYW, which often had celebrities saying it on camera just before the news.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I had a lot of kids' rooms in my houses. I liked the toys and child scale items. I often thought about making a miniature orphanage so I could justify having a house full of children's rooms!

I loved this room. I loved this wallpaper! In real life, a room like this would have probably kept me awake at night (just a tad bit on the "overstimulating" side!) but in miniature I loved looking at it. It made me happy :) I also loved the rocking horse peg rack on the door. I remember being very excited when I bought it. I knew exactly where it was going to go.

The chest of drawers is part of the same set as the "bench at the foot of the bed" in the Girl's Room. The Huggies Diaper box on top of it was assembled from a kit. This was back in 20th century BC (Before Color copies) when we couldn't print color items like this on our own printers. We had to buy them as kits. The Huggies box was supposed to be assembled closed, but I left the top open and added fake diapers -which I believe I made by cutting and folding small pieces of a real diaper to the correct shapes and sizes!

The alphabet blocks were given to me by the boss I made the boob cake for :) When she found out I collected miniatures, she went through her old collection of items from a store she used to own, and brought me those blocks and a few sheets of antique wall paper (which I don't think I was able to use.) She was very sweet about it and I was so appreciative that she thought enough of me to look through her own collection of things. I will say this about my old boss, she's wacky and eccentric but has a flair for graciousness. She could give you a pebble and make it seem like a precious gift ;)

The orange wooden truck came from a toy block set that may have belonged to my brother. The firefighter's hat was a bit on the small side and came off a small toy. Possibly a Fisher Price character.

The toy chest has more toys and books in it. The seashells next to the overturned shovel and pail are real. The ball by the bed came with the pail and shovel as part of a set. The dog next to the ball is some kind of beagle. I remember buying that as an adult.

The swan rocker (lower left corner) is hard to describe... On either side were swan shaped cut-outs. Connecting the two sides was a red seat in the center, along with a foot rest below and a handlebar across the front (connecting the two necks). If you put a small child (doll) in the seat, they could rock in it.

The bed is a toddler sized bed. I loved this bed. It was very well made. And so cute! The toddler on the bed was from a kit. I don't remember the name of the woman who made these but I loved her dolls. I could only get them through the mail or conventions (email wasn't popular yet). I made its clothes, but the rest was already assembled. This doll has always reminded me of my brother. He had the exact same hair.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

"Worry Dolls" were the first toy dolls I used in my dollhouses (There were several in this room). They were the right size, and relatively inexpensive and easy to find when I was little.

The boy doll in the stroller and the girl doll behind the bed are jointed and were made by me. They were my first attempts at making dolls out of Sculpey. (And pretty much my last!)

The red inkwell with the black quill pen was made by me when I was 8. I probably cut the feather down from one I'd found outside. I wrote "INK" in black letters on the front of the inkwell. I think I did that because that's how they always looked in cartoons.

I made the shelves along the back wall to try to utilize some of that space. I think the trophy on the back shelf was a Cracker Jack prize. Below the trophy and skateboard, on the lower shelf are some paper doll cats with tabbed paper clothes. These were from "B. Shackman" which was a small toy store in New York. They claimed to have miniatures but they really didn't have much. They did, however, have a lot of antique and small sized toys. The cat paper dolls were from their "small novelty toys" section.

I got the blue "How to knit" book when I was around 9. It was part of a set that included a yellow wooden bowl with glued in balls of yarn and needles, and a white plastic fuzzy cat playing with a red ball of yarn. I loved that cat. I think I still have all those pieces.

Behind the bed is a doll carriage; its handle is on the left, and the hood of the carriage is black and on the right. Inside the carriage is an angel made out of a small styrofoam ball, yarn, and pipe cleaners. It was originally a cupcake decoration attached to the top of a toothpick. I liked it and didn't want to throw it away, so I removed the toothpick and used it as a doll inside the house. I bet no one ever expected that "throwaway item" to be around so many years later!

The perfume bottles and flower on the tray on top of the wardrobe were tiny, which is why I put them in a child's room. I think they were meant to be for a 1/2" scale house (this house was 1" scale). Inside the wardrobe were a few extra clothes and a necklace.

The bed is a scale sized twin bed. The pillows on the bed (and on the desk chair) were bought at a Guild show. The quilt on the bed is a real quilt made by me in my teens or early 20s. The pink flower squares and backing are from one of my old flannel nightgowns. The quilt is a bit crooked but not bad. I probably sewed it by hand. I made the bear rug too. I cut it out of furry fabric and glued on felt ears and a couple of "googly eyes."

The bench at the foot of the bed is part of a similarly painted set of furniture that was another gift from someone. I separated the items and tried to use them as accent pieces because as a matching set they were way too loud!

Monday, March 17, 2008

On the left you can see a little of the house's roof and blue exterior (Hence "The Blue House!")

The rabbits and cage on the floor are just some of the many pets in this house. I've often thought of making a miniature veterinary office to hold all the miniature animals, and science equipment I have!

On the roll top desk is a display of real (and tiny) sea shells, including a teeny tiny seahorse. On the desk (barely visible) is a book and a yellow legal pad of lined paper with a tiny red pencil resting on top. The pad of paper has individual sheets that can be torn off like a regular pad.

The gum ball machine, on the chest of drawers, was one of my favorite items when I was little. I think it was a birthday present. It's one of the few I've seen without a stand and with a round dome. Most others I've seen have longer egg shaped domes. The flat fishbowl next to it has a fake goldfish and plants embedded in the solid glass. Between the chest of drawers and the bed, barely visible, is a blue plastic garbage can. I think it used to hold candy.

The bed is a child proportioned bed. The pillow on it may have been made by my mother. I call the quilt on this bed a "fake" quilt, because it's a printed quilt pattern on one solid piece of quilting fabric.

I made the butterfly collection above the bed (Could you tell? ;) ) I think I cut the butterfly graphics out of the side of a paper Dixie bathroom cup. I also made the "Wild Thing" toy on the bed out of pom poms, felt, and Sculpey for the horns.

The robot is a windup toy that made its way to my desk when I was working at a magazine. I finally decided to take him home and put him in this room. He fit well. The bird cage was bought from an Asian import store.

The jester on left side of the lower bookcase shelf is metal, jointed, and I think may have been a Christmas ornament. The white seashell on that same shelf is plastic. Every other seashell in the house is real except for this one. I think this one was a bead. The green car on the top shelf may have been a Cracker Jack prize. I remember it had to be assembled. I have an orange one too. Above it you can see the bottom of a rocking horse. I think that was part of a play set for another doll (Possibly the Sunshine Family... not sure.)

The demonic head thing on the side of the bookcase is something I found in China Town. I don't know what it was supposed to be, but I thought it was cool, so I bought it and put it in the house. (Kids put all kinds of weird stuff in their rooms!)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I called my friend yesterday to remind her about the penny jar incident. She didn't remember that specific night but she fondly remembers staying at my grandparents' house many times.

HER

I remember sleeping at your grandparents' house! I remember the lounge chairs!

ME

The what?

HER

The lounge chairs!

(laughing)

I remember I, or maybe you... one of us, would sleep in a lounge chair!

ME

Oh my gosh... I forgot about that! You're right. I don't remember which of us slept in it? Probably both! I'm sure I did sometimes. We probably each had a chair.

They were like long beach chairs with woven plastic, and the head and foot sections would make a ratchety sound when you raised or lowered them. She'd make them up like beds and we'd sleep on those when we stayed over! Wow... I completely forgot about that!

HER

I remember!

(laughing)

I think they didn't have enough beds for us or something?

ME

Well we were also small. We could sleep in anything.

So tell me.... if you thought they didn't have enough beds in the house, how is it that you didn't think twice before TAKING MY GRANDPARENTS' ENTIRE LIFE SAVINGS???! ;)

My neighbor's granddaughter stayed at her place last night. I remember staying at my grandmother's house overnight. Sometimes my friend would come too. (The friend who, years later, lent me her dollhouse.) Looking back on this now, it was really nice of my grandparents to take both me and a friend overnight.

I remember one time, the three of us had just finished playing a game; My friend, my grandmother, and I. It might have been a board game, or a card game, or possibly even dominos (most likely.) When I won, my grandmother presented me with a jar full of pennies, about the size of a small/medium peanut butter jar, and enthusiastically told me that this was my prize.

I was five years old (my friend was six). Do you know what a jar full of pennies looks like to a five year old? I thought there must have been at least two hundred dollars in there. Maybe more. It could even have been a million dollars. Whatever it was, I was certain it was my grandparents' life savings and that without this 16 oz jar of pennies they'd be destitute, homeless, and living on the streets by noon.

I thanked my grandmother and told her that I couldn't accept the prize and that she should really keep it for herself! I wanted her to. She was completely baffled by my reaction. What kind of five year old turns down a jar FULL of pennies?! (A five year old who doesn't want to be responsible for her grandparents living out of a cardboard box! That's who!) "It's MONEY!" she told me! (Which made me feel worse!) "You're the winner! You won! This is your prize! Come on! Take it!" she cheerfully insisted. I was horrified at the possible ramifications of the monumental error in judgement she was making, and resolutely kept telling her "no."

Finally, she gave up on me, turned to my friend and said "All right then, you take it!" And do you know what my friend did? She lunged forward with her arms outstretched and screamed "Ok!!!"

-I won't bore you with the details of what happened next, but sufficeth to say, she gave the pennies back!

In the past week I've posted some photos with rollovers in them (and there are more to come!) When you move your mouse over certain areas of the photo, little descriptions should pop up. If they're not working for you, one of the steps below might help:

Is it a rollover photo?: If I didn't specifically mention in the post that the accompanying photo has rollovers in it, it's probably a just normal (non-rollover) photo!

Click on the photo first: For some browsers, you may need to click on the photo first. Then the rollovers should work. (Thanks for pointing this out MP!)

Reload that post only: Some browsers may not be loading the photo properly due to memory issues or browser quirkiness. If you don't see the "Photobucket" logo on the lower right edge of the photo, it didn't load properly. Click on the title of that post, and that will take you to a page with that post only. If the photo loads this time with the Photobucket logo along the right edge, everything should work properly (If not, try #2.)

Re-install Flash: The photos with the rollovers are actually Flash objects. If you don't see any photos at all in a post that references a photo with rollovers (just a blank space), you may not have Flash installed properly, or you may have too old a version. Please try the following steps:

Verify that you successfully installed the latest version of Flash by going here.

If it says you STILL do not have the latest version installed, try re-installing it again, doing a full re-start of your computer, then re-checking here to see if you now have the latest version installed.

Once you have the most current version of Flash successfully installed, the pictures should load and work properly (remember to try #2 and #3 if they load but do not work).

Leave me a comment!: If the rollover photos still don't work after trying all of the above, leave me a comment and let me know!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Daniele stopped by for "the party" so I went to visit her blog. While I was there I saw this picture.

Boy did that bring back memories! I remember "those apples!" I had those apples! When my brother was little, everyapple in our crisper drawer looked exactly like these!

In Junior High, I invited the Principal of my school to be the special guest at my group's final exam meal for our Home Economics class. My part of the meal was dessert, and I made a pie out of THOSE apples. (What? I peeled and washed them!)

Later that night when my parents found out, they gasped and asked how the exam had gone. I told them everything went well and the Principal loved my pie ...why? -My parents breathed a sigh of relief as they imagined what it would have been like if the Principal of our school had gone to take a bite of his apple pie and noticed that the piece of apple on his fork already had a bite taken out of it!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

I thought some of you at the party might be looking for the bathroom right about now, so here it is.

I've had the white bathroom pieces above since I was around 8. Back then it was nearly impossible to find miniature bathroom sets with "normal" toilets. For years, all miniature bathroom sets had toilets with tanks that were suspended way above the toilets on a pole. No little American kids wanted those kinds of toilets in their dollhouses! We'd never seen those here! (I never saw one until I lived in England for a year.) Nowadays it's easier to find bathroom sets like the white one above, but back then, I had one of the few, and very rare, normal toilet bathroom sets in the entire world ;)

On the shelf above the tub, next to the bottle of baby shampoo, is an assortment of bottles that resemble perfume bottles. There's also a very small basket, and a bar of soap. (I know you can't see any of that, but trust me, they're there!)

The mirror over the tub was a piece of jewelry; a pin I'd found at another street or craft fair. I don't remember where I got the dark green piece of pottery on the floor by the sink, but I think I got it when I was fairly young, along with one or two other matching pieces. I'm pretty sure I got them while I was still living at home because I distinctly remember my mother putting a wad of cotton in this one, pulling out small wisps, and explaining to me as she twisted and shaped them "It's art... Like a sculpture!" -My mom is "unique."

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Along the left wall is a round basket with a lid that I found at a street fair. I bought several. On the side table is a glass vase, a cherry cheesecake that I made out of a bottle cap, clay, red beads, and some of my mom's red nail polish (She never knew!) Next to that is an empty cake stand with a glass dome.

On the shelves above the side table, there are a mixture of china plates from an oversized tea set I'd been given years before having a doll house, some pewter tea mugs and dishes that my mother had painted white with red flowers, and some clear plastic "glasses" with gold colored metal accents. There's also a porcelain Toby Mug that I got at a Guild show, with the face of a small child.

Next to that, the door (to the kitchen) clearly needed paint and a door frame but it seems I hadn't gotten around to that at the time of this picture! Next to the door are two chairs that used to belong to my sister. I don't know what style of furniture they were. They came with a bench that resembled a church pew.

Along the back wall, most of the visible contents of the china cabinet were oversized, but I still used them. The punch bowl on top was to scale. Inside the drawers and cabinets were more items, including miniature paper party plates, colored napkins, and plastic spoons and forks. I used to set those up around my birthday. I always decorated my houses for the holidays (and yes, in my mind, my birthday counted as a holiday!)

To the right of the china cabinet was a table with a tray of gold colored metal goblets and some kind of vase/urn in the center. Next to that were two candelabras with real wax candles (No I never burned them!) There was also a decorative metal vase with enamel detailing. I think it used to be a necklace pendant. Next to that is a piece of Native American pottery that I think I bought when I was traveling through some southern states.

The clock on the wall was a gift. One of a set of about 6 different clocks. I often received gifts from people who thought they'd found me the perfect dollhouse item. Often, whatever they'd found wasn't of the same quality as what I was collecting, but I always tried to work their pieces in somewhere so they wouldn't feel bad. The butcher block table along the right wall was also a gift. That didn't fit anywhere, but I tried!

I'm pretty sure the basket in the center of the table was one of several that I bought at a hand made basket shop in upstate New York. I was in the area for a Youth Group retreat. I think the paper flowers inside it were once a wedding bouquet for a larger doll.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Sorry I'm a little late to The Ultimate Blog Party, but I'm here! If this is your first time visiting my blog, "Welcome!" I suggest you click on the "humor" category on the right when you have some time. Not because I'm hilariously funny but because those posts will give you the best idea of how my brain works!

Since I'm currently posting about miniatures and was showing everyone around the kitchen today, I thought I'd offer up some miniature food for the party.

Grab a box of something, have a seat in my kitchen (where there's plenty more food) and take a load off. Everyone always ends up in the kitchen at parties anyway!

You don't have to collect miniatures to have fun with these. Use them in other crafts, leave them on the desks of your co-workers, or keep a few scattered around your "normal sized" house just to amuse yourself! (FYI: If you're a stickler for scale, you may need to re-size some of these.)

Thank you new visitors for stopping by for the party! For those of you who always stop by -"Woo hoo! PARTY!!!" :)

152– four 4 ounce jars of 100% African Shea ButterBecause it claims to help with with eczema, blemishes, burns and dry itchy skin, so what could be better? -Plus I'd never buy this for myself to try it out, so why not?

If none of those are available, I'd like one of the following prizes, (in order of preference): 131, 24, 102, 125, 63, 70, 60, 39, 140, 129, 112, 130, 59, 55.

Along the left wall is a cake rack that my mother painted white. Above it are some baking pans, and on either side of it are framed "food related" photos. The top shelf of the cake rack has a pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and a chocolate cherry cake. These were made by professionals and look exactly like the real things (only smaller!)

The second shelf has a layer cake at the far end that was made by gluing two flat buttons together, and next to it is a chocolate cake that was made by a neighbor up the street. My mother found out that our neighbor used to make dollhouse miniatures, so I have several items from her. She used some kind of clay (not Fimo or Sculpey) to make her items and while they weren't perfect, at 8 years old I thought they were the greatest things in the world. The bowl of fruit on the table, the cookie jar next to the stove, and the yellow clock over the center window were also made by her.

The bottom shelf of the cake rack has a huge rubber birthday cake (I don't remember where I found that.) and a box of Coca Cola bottles from my brother's toy truck.

All the furniture along the back wall was built by my mother from a kit. The doors and drawers weren't supposed to open but she modified them so they would. Many of them were crooked because of this, but I didn't care. Chances are I had something inside each of those cabinets and drawers (this was true for all of my houses). I know I had utensils in the drawers.

Most items along the back wall are labeled if you roll your mouse over them. Some items you can't see very well: There are 2 pot holders and a cutting board hanging to the left of the stove. There's a copper colored tea kettle on the stove, and probably a frying pan with a spatula and egg in it. I usually kept those on there. I also usually kept a turkey in the oven. Yes that door opened too!

Next to the cookie jar on the counter, and almost completely obscured by the chair, is a toaster. It came with two pieces of plastic toast and a tension spring that would make the toast really pop up (and fly out of my dollhouse, across the room, and onto the floor.) I think the two jars/bottles next to that had cherries and string beans. To the right of the potted flower on the counter are stoneware canisters for flour, sugar, tea, and coffee. The lids came off and inside was a glued in layer of each of those things. I loved that!

The table and chairs originally had pink flowers but my mother painted them yellow so they'd match the kitchen (I probably wouldn't have noticed if the flowers had stayed pink!) There's a second cookbook on the table (beside "The Joy Of Cooking,") but I can't remember which one it was. It was probably "The Silver Palate Cookbook."

I made the grocery bags myself and the contents are all items of miniature foods. Some were bought over the years, and some had been made by my mom, myself, or the neighbor up the street. The refrigerator was, of course, filled with food too! The refrigerator is actually from my sister's old dollhouse (Shhh! Don't tell!) -She'd long given up dollhouses by this point and I'd "rescued" a lot of her better stuff before it was trashed. Most of my sister's stuff was cheap and pretty crappy. I had the "real" dollhouse stuff and she mostly had plastic "little kid" stuff, but some of her pieces were good so I grabbed them when they were headed for the trash!

The door on the left led to the outside. The door on the right led into the dining room.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I started collecting dollhouse miniatures when I was eight years old because I liked my friend E's dollhouse (You know... the friend who kept drowning?) My first dollhouse was made for me by my parents. It was a large wooden box, stained dark brown, with two shelves (which made 3 floors) and crookedly sawed out windows and a door. I loved it! My mother wallpapered it with wrapping paper and helped make a lot of my earlier pieces. I think she enjoyed it as much as I did. I continued to collect miniatures throughout college and still have two (sadly neglected) room boxes and one (equally neglected) dollhouse in my current home.

I always worked in one inch scale (or "an inch to a foot") which is the most common dollhouse scale in the USA. What that means is that anything that would normally be a foot long in "real life" is an inch long in the dollhouse. When I was younger, the miniatures I had weren't always to scale because, although most of my items were store bought or professionally made, some items were made by my mother, some were made by a neighbor, and some were just found items. But many of my original items were to scale, and I still have a lot of them today.

In high school, several friends liked my house and decided they wanted to collect miniatures too. My best friend (whom I'd known since I was 1 year old -we were neighbors) even took an internship at a dollhouse store. She bought a kit (Duracraft I think) and started to build a really large 10 room house. She assembled most of it, the main structure anyway, but never quite finished it. Several years later we had the following conversation:

HER

I need to get rid of some stuff. What do you want of mine?

ME

I don't know... clothes? Or um... that frog over there? I don't know. I have no idea. I really don't need anything.

HER

Yes you do. Think big.

ME

Bookshelves?

HER

No. What do you really want of mine?

(I was confused. I really wanted bookshelves! Then I realized...)

ME

Oh my gosh... your dollhouse??!!!

HER

Yes! Take it out of here, do whatever you want with it. I'm sick of looking at it. Finish it, paint it, wallpaper it, anything you want. Keep it as long as you'd like. One or ten years, I don't care. My only requirement is that when you don't want it anymore, even if it's ten years from now, you promise to give it back to me and not get rid of it some other way.

I never jumped on a deal so fast in my life!

I kept her house for many years. I wallpapered it, carpeted it, painted it blue with white trim, and installed electricity. I never used electricity in any of my houses, but I always installed it because ideally the wiring should to go under wallpaper and flooring. So it's better to install electrical wiring in a dollhouse and not use it, than to not install it and decide you want it later!

I had a great time with that house, and returned it to her many years later. I kept my furniture, but she got back a finished, wallpapered, electrified house. -Then she got married and gave birth to two boys! ;)

I don't think I ever took pictures of the exterior of that house (aka "The Blue House"), but I still have some photos of the interior rooms. -Guess what I'll be posting throughout the next few weeks? ;)

Sunday, March 9, 2008

-You're welcome. I didn't know either. I had no idea it was today. If a friend hadn't told me, I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to realize that my computer was showing a different time than the rest of my home. (My computer adjusts for DST automatically.)

Saturday, March 8, 2008

My room smells like cat pee. I do not have a cat. I think it may be coming from the air conditioner I bought from my neighbors yesterday. It's the only "new" thing in here.

They bought it from my neighbors before them and those neighbors had a cat with some kidney problems, so it's possible. I've never noticed their apartment smelling like cat pee, but their rooms are larger and have better ventilation.

I like this AC and I'd like to be able to keep it. It's bigger than my old one, works better, and it has a remote! I could adjust the temperature without getting up from my bed!

Later, I'll hit it with a bunch of sprays and run it for a while to see if that solves the problem. If not, I'll tell my neighbors. They're pretty great. I'm going to miss them when they move.

But just in case THIS is the day they finally get around to reading my blog... Dudes! The AC smells like cat pee!

EDIT: Then again... maybe there was just an angry cat outside my window? The smell is gone now. I don't think I got used to it. I think it's actually gone. So maybe a cat decided to relieve itself outside my window and the odor was coming through the air conditioner, but was not actually from the air conditioner. I hope that's what it was.

My old roommate told me a cat came through her window twice in the middle of the night. Coulda been him...

An ambulance has been idling outside my building for about 45 minutes. I knew what it was before I got up to look. I used to work with ambulances. I know what our engines sound like.

I doubt it was anyone from my building. I think I would have heard them echoing in the hall. More likely it's from the building across the street. They park in front of my building because there's room in front of the fire hydrant. The ambulance is not from the closest hospital but from one across town, which makes me think it's a patient with a history. Old. Handicapped. Recent surgery. They didn't scoop and go, but took time to stabilize them in back, so it's more likely an illness than injury. My guess is it was an old person. 3 to 5 AM calls usually are.

People watching at 5 AM is interesting. Someone walks by with a cup of coffee. Another with a closed umbrella. Prepared. Two police officers walk by. I don't think they're related to the ambulance call but it's possible. Another person walks by wearing a black "New York" baseball cap with white writing.

Birds are out. Lots in the tree by my window. Little ones. I don't usually see so many there. They seem very relaxed. Eating. Preening. Chirping. There's about 12 of them.

Calm. Quiet. This was my regular wake-up time for many years. I liked being out before the rest of the world. I like it when the city is empty. I'm tempted to go out for a walk right now, but I know I'd be better off trying to get back to sleep.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

3:30 PMA friend just stopped by to tell me she's going to her first Broadway pre-show party, and she wants me to help her figure out what to wear :) She was so cute bouncing up and down at my door! It's like little electric rays were zipping out the top of her head and all over the place! She's so excited. She's never been to an opening night party. I love seeing people like this.

She's going to go run around the block about 8 times to burn off some energy and will call me when she's home and ready for me to help her out. She's already one of those "beautiful people" (You know... the ones who'd look good in a paper bag?) so it's not like this is gonna be hard.

3:45 PMShe just got back and gave me my "20 minute call." I have to say, I don't think the 8 times around the block made a lot of difference. She's SO excited!

4:35 PMAnd she's off! When I got to her place the excitement had transitioned into "what to wear" insecurity coupled with a fear of being late. There wasn't a lot of time to tell her what to expect (like the Press) so we stuck to getting her dressed and out the door.

FYI: My fashion advice consisted primarily of:

"Try the other top."

"Let me see the blue."

"I didn't think I'd like the blue but it brings out your eyes. You look like Cinderella."

"Stick with the silver and lose the gold."

and

"Just so you know, when you lean down that far, I can totally see your boobs."

Saturday, March 1, 2008

I've been looking out my window at a little girl having a meltdown across the street. When her mother started to walk into their building, the little girl sat down on the ground and refused to go in. The mother finally went in anyway and the girl slumped over and and cried. Her father finally came out and picked her up, which seems to be what she wanted all along. It's so hard to be a child.

It reminded me of a time when I did something similar. Similar, but actually quite different, because I didn't want anyone coming after me!

I was about 5 years old, and my family and I were on vacation. As we were leaving a beach, we passed a man selling souvenirs at a table. I wanted one. My parents said no. I did not like that answer! I wanted a souvenir! I really wanted one. It was very important to me and I was angry that my parents were being so unreasonable! (What part of "I want one" and "I HAVE to HAVE one" did they not understand?)

I'm not sure how the next bit of logic came about, and knowing my parents I'm sure they started it, but we entered into a verbal tug of war where the deal was that I had to either get in the car, or I could stay at the beach with the souvenirs that were so important to me. Our conversations went something like this:

The guy at the souvenir table was whispering to me saying "They're leaving! You'd better go! They're leaving without you!" but I did not scare easily.

I'm sure everyone expected me to crumple into a little heap (like the girl I was just watching out the window) or to run after the car tearfully begging my parents to let me in, but I was SO ANGRY! I thought they were being complete jerks driving away like that instead of giving in to my simple demands! So instead of running after them in tears, as I'm sure everybody expected me to do, I watched the car as it exited the parking lot, then I turned around in a huff and started walking towards the beach to find shelter and food for my new existence!

So you can imagine how incensed I was when my parents had the nerve to actually drive BACK into the parking lot and DEMAND that I get into their car without getting me a souvenir! We had a deal! It was their deal! Get in the car or stay on the beach with the souvenirs! Now they were going back on that deal and I was expected to get in the car anyway? WITHOUT a souvenir??? Unbelievable! I vaguely recall eloquently explaining this to them by yelling the words "But you SAID!!!"

Eventually I had to get in the car. Not because they were my parents but because they were bigger than me. But I never forgot that they actually drove away and left me there, thinking that might scare me into changing my mind. Nor did I forget that they "went back on their deal" when they returned to the beach for me a few moments later. I also have never forgotten that, when I believed they had really left me there, and had driven away for good over something as petty (on their part!) as a simple souvenir, I did not fall apart and cry. I turned around and walked the other way.